I have the same question. I'm supposed to go to Tijuana for a session this coming Sunday, 5/28/17. Do I have to be concerned about getting my recently (less than 10 year ago) built blackwood Uilleann chanter back into the US? I'd like to play pipes at this event if possible.

Under the treaty and listing, individuals are allowed to travel across international borders with blackwood and rosewood instruments collectively weighing up to 22 pounds before any kind of permit or documentation is required. Note that this does not include Brazilian Rosewood which is protected under a more restrictive CITES listing.

Best wishes.

Steve

_________________"[Some flutists] place the flute between the upper lip and the nose, blowing the instrument from below. This position does not prevent good playing, but it does not look graceful."~ Antoine Mahaut, 1759 in a tutor for playing the transverse flute ~

All thanks go to Casey. He's the one who's been doing the heavy lifting to sort out this whole change in CITES thing.

Casey: both your work on this and your communication on the process is greatly appreciated.

Best wishes.

Steve

_________________"[Some flutists] place the flute between the upper lip and the nose, blowing the instrument from below. This position does not prevent good playing, but it does not look graceful."~ Antoine Mahaut, 1759 in a tutor for playing the transverse flute ~

Here are the results of my research into the implications for me in Germany of buying a flute from Canada (also posted on thesession.org):-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I (in Germany) have ordered a blackwood flute from Canada. Since ordering Grenadilla has come under CITES protection. The flute is legally covered by an exception for wood pre-dating the ban. Since this is a hot topic at the moment and involved a bit of research, I thought that I would post how I have come to understand the paperwork/logistics.:

1. The Maker and Seller is organising export permits for Canada.2. I need to take these export permits when available and, using a copy of them, apply for for an import permit for Germany - should take up to a week once I can submit the application (Form available on www.bfn.de). The information on the application is mostly a copy over from the export permit.3. Once I have the import permits, then the flute can be sent and I will have to go the the customs office here (same as for any extra-eu purchases) and show them the import permit and pay any duty/taxes. Then take the flute. Everyone happy, we hope…

For any later travel with Grenadilla instruments, I am ok if the instruments belong to me, are for my use (ie. not gifts), in my personal luggage and weigh collectively less than 10Kg. The customs officer recommended keeping the import permit with me just to prove what the flute is made of and that it is ok.

I will add a reply to this post once it has all happened to confirm if it all worked put as described.

So far everything is getting through without any problems. However, it seems to increase the Customs scrutiny or at least slow down the process. What usually took a few days now seems to take a few weeks, in terms of processing through the customs offices.

I ordered a blackwood flute from Irish Flute Store last month. I received an email from them yesterday. They said...

"I am so sorry for the delay. I finally was able to speak to someone at Fish and Wildlife Services. They are inundated with applications and the normal 2-4 week process is taking closer to 3-4 months right now because of the new regulations. I will cancel your order and let you know when the process is completed so that you can order again from our site and we can legally ship to you."

I guess they're in big trouble. I hope this information is helpful to you when you import a flute from U.S.

We are not in "big trouble". We just need to hold off sending internationally on some instruments until we have the cites master certification. Inconvenient for our international customers but it's not a long term issue. Will update the site soon to communicate this and keep you all to date here when we do.

tomo wrote:

I ordered a blackwood flute from Irish Flute Store last month. I received an email from them yesterday. They said...

"I am so sorry for the delay. I finally was able to speak to someone at Fish and Wildlife Services. They are inundated with applications and the normal 2-4 week process is taking closer to 3-4 months right now because of the new regulations. I will cancel your order and let you know when the process is completed so that you can order again from our site and we can legally ship to you."

I guess they're in big trouble. I hope this information is helpful to you when you import a flute from U.S.

Thank you for clarifying my concerns. I'm relieved a little. I'll wait until you have the cites master certification.

Regards,Tomoyuki

Blayne Chastain wrote:

We are not in "big trouble". We just need to hold off sending internationally on some instruments until we have the cites master certification. Inconvenient for our international customers but it's not a long term issue. Will update the site soon to communicate this and keep you all to date here when we do.

tomo wrote:

I ordered a blackwood flute from Irish Flute Store last month. I received an email from them yesterday. They said...

"I am so sorry for the delay. I finally was able to speak to someone at Fish and Wildlife Services. They are inundated with applications and the normal 2-4 week process is taking closer to 3-4 months right now because of the new regulations. I will cancel your order and let you know when the process is completed so that you can order again from our site and we can legally ship to you."

I guess they're in big trouble. I hope this information is helpful to you when you import a flute from U.S.

We are not in "big trouble". We just need to hold off sending internationally on some instruments until we have the cites master certification. Inconvenient for our international customers but it's not a long term issue.

Indeed, I think the folks who are in trouble are probably the Fish and Wildlife employees who are hustling to accommodate the massive increase in paperwork! A short term nuisance for makers and sellers of certain wood types, but I expect (hope?) that F&W will eventually get things running more smoothly.

Personally I wasn't going to bother with the whole circus, but I'm considering getting a master certificate. Still not sure it is worth my time. I do have some small stockpiles of woods that I acquired pre-CITIES and it would be nice to be able to utilize them. Trying to balance that against the hassle of red tape...

No worries Tomo. Also want to extend a late thanks here also to Casey. I'm not on the forum as much these days as I've been busy between IFS, my work as a musician and film maker, hanging with the family and occasionally cycling, fly fishing and flying toy airplanes! (Just took 2nd in the remote controlled sailplane nationals). But yes, Casey - Deborah and I much appreciate your posts here on CITES. Has been very helpful for us making sense of it all.

tomo wrote:

It seems that I used the phrase "in big trouble" inappropriately. I didn't know that the phrase implies that they might be going out of business. I didn't mean it at all.

I'm sorry for the confusion. I really appreciate Irish Flute Store's effort to have the CITES master certification as soon as possible.

A reminder to all the makers who are using the CITES Single Use Permits to export instruments. Note that the permits are only good for six months and then you need new permits. I had forgotten that until I just tried to get the permit approved for two flutes which we have ready to ship. Not sure how long it will take to get the new permits but the message is to check your expiration dates and request the new ones well ahead of time.